By Sheila McLaughlin
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LEBANON - Thieves stole CD players, tunes and other presents Tammy Dyer had collected for the U.S. Marine Corps' Toys for Tots program.

Dyer, who has coordinated the effort in Warren and Butler counties for three years, said she discovered the theft from the Dodge Durango parked in her North Broadway Street driveway on Monday. Lebanon police are investigating but have no suspects.

Dyer said the thieves struck sometime over the weekend when she skipped unloading the items - about $2,500 worth - to a more secure trailer because she had to tend to two sick kids, one of them with pneumonia.

Dyer figures the thieves broke into the SUV through a latch on the vehicle's back gate.

"This has never, ever, ever happened," she said Tuesday, a day before the toys were scheduled for distribution at the Warren County Fairgrounds.

"I've been using the same truck for the past three years. So, it's somebody that knows the truck."

The take included CD players, hundreds of CDs, cassette players, 45 Ninja Turtle figurines and four bags of toys that Dyer had picked up from drop-off sites but hadn't sorted.

Officer Robb White said Dyer's case was among a rash of recent automobile break-ins all over the city that included thefts of car stereos, money, credit cards and virtually anything in sight.

"We're begging people to keep things out of their car," White said.

Despite the theft, Dyer said the missing presents won't put a damper on Christmas for hundreds of local kids. She said Toys for Tots, a 56-year-old program that collects and distributes millions of donated gifts during the holidays each year, will cover what she needs if her supply falls short.

E-mail smclaughlin@enquirer.com